Nehemiah's End + Housekeeping Notes

 

Today is the last day of our Nehemiah reading; the book ends not with a bang but with a whimper.

Instead of ending with the victorious and thrilling celebration that Nehemiah leads after the completion of the walls (our reading for yesterday about which I didn’t write because I didn’t have anything interesting to say!), the book ends instead with proof that Nehemiah’s great leadership has not actually changed the people.

What does that mean?

Short answer: we cannot save ourselves, because the problem is within every human heart.

Long answer: you’ll need to watch my sermon for this Sunday. I recorded it last night and I think it would be better for you to watch it than for me to try to summarize it here. Sermon will be available at mungerplace.org and via podcast starting at 6 AM Sunday.

 

 

Revelation Comes Next!

We are going to start reading Revelation together on Monday, October 12. More details to follow.

At Munger, we are handing out Revelation booklets. If you don’t live in Dallas but want to follow along, you can buy one for yourself here.

“We will not neglect the house of our God.”

 

I can’t win.

If I talk about tithing—giving 10% of whatever comes in to the ministry of Christ’s church—folks will just say, “Of course you say that. You’re not a disinterested party, and you just want our money.”

If I do NOT talk about tithing, then folks will never understand that it’s important!

 

In our reading today from Nehemiah 10, we see that Nehemiah and Ezra have the people pledge to give a tenth part of their income to the ministry of the newly-rebuilt Temple. This is an important part of what repentance looks like—to commit to living the right way.

 

It’s really that simple. If you are a follower of Jesus, you need to be a tither—whatever comes in the door, give 10% of it to your local church.

If you think I’m just after your money, then I’ll call your bluff: if Munger is your local church, then just find another local church and give it there. That’s how much I believe in tithing.

American Confession, or If I Were President

 

It strikes me that we—as Americans—have never really reckoned as a people with our history of slavery and its terrible consequences. Yes, of course, many individuals and politicians have given speeches lamenting our original sin and promising to do better, but to my knowledge as a nation we have never confessed, asked for the Lord’s mercy, and promised to move forward with repentance.

Reading Nehemiah 9 has made me think that now is the time for a national prayer of confession.

 

 

Nehemiah is a story of rebuilding. 140 years after Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians and its citizens taken off into exile (586 BC), Nehemiah leads a group of returning Jews back to the city of their fathers to begin to rebuild (446 BC). He starts with the walls around Jerusalem, which—due to his remarkable leadership and the Lord’s favor—they miraculously rebuild in only 52 days.

After that, Nehemiah (the governor) and Ezra (the leading priest and reformer) lead a covenant renewal ceremony with all the people gathered. The reason that Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 was because the Israelites had forsaken the covenant and sinned—generation after generation—against the Lord. Actions have consequences, and the Lord won’t hold back judgment forever, and finally the doom came down on the stiff-necked Israelites.

Now, Nehemiah and Ezra are beginning again, and in a remarkable worship service (narrated in Nehemiah 9), the people pray an agonizing prayer of confession and repentance that is worth reading in full:

“Stand up and praise the Lord your God, who is from everlasting to everlasting.”

“Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise. You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.

“You are the Lord God, who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and named him Abraham. You found his heart faithful to you, and you made a covenant with him to give to his descendants the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites and Girgashites. You have kept your promise because you are righteous.

“You saw the suffering of our ancestors in Egypt; you heard their cry at the Red Sea. 10 You sent signs and wonders against Pharaoh, against all his officials and all the people of his land, for you knew how arrogantly the Egyptians treated them. You made a name for yourself, which remains to this day. 11 You divided the sea before them, so that they passed through it on dry ground, but you hurled their pursuers into the depths, like a stone into mighty waters. 12 By day you led them with a pillar of cloud, and by night with a pillar of fire to give them light on the way they were to take.

13 “You came down on Mount Sinai; you spoke to them from heaven. You gave them regulations and laws that are just and right, and decrees and commands that are good. 14 You made known to them your holy Sabbath and gave them commands, decrees and laws through your servant Moses. 15 In their hunger you gave them bread from heaven and in their thirst you brought them water from the rock; you told them to go in and take possession of the land you had sworn with uplifted hand to give them.

16 “But they, our ancestors, became arrogant and stiff-necked, and they did not obey your commands. 17 They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore you did not desert them, 18 even when they cast for themselves an image of a calf and said, ‘This is your god, who brought you up out of Egypt,’ or when they committed awful blasphemies.

19 “Because of your great compassion you did not abandon them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud did not fail to guide them on their path, nor the pillar of fire by night to shine on the way they were to take. 20 You gave your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and you gave them water for their thirst.21 For forty years you sustained them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing, their clothes did not wear out nor did their feet become swollen.

22 “You gave them kingdoms and nations, allotting to them even the remotest frontiers. They took over the country of Sihon king of Heshbon and the country of Og king of Bashan. 23 You made their children as numerous as the stars in the sky, and you brought them into the land that you told their parents to enter and possess. 24 Their children went in and took possession of the land. You subdued before them the Canaanites, who lived in the land; you gave the Canaanites into their hands, along with their kings and the peoples of the land, to deal with them as they pleased. 25 They captured fortified cities and fertile land; they took possession of houses filled with all kinds of good things, wells already dug, vineyards, olive groves and fruit trees in abundance. They ate to the full and were well-nourished; they reveled in your great goodness.

26 “But they were disobedient and rebelled against you; they turned their backs on your law. They killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you; they committed awful blasphemies. 27 So you delivered them into the hands of their enemies, who oppressed them. But when they were oppressed they cried out to you. From heaven you heard them, and in your great compassion you gave them deliverers, who rescued them from the hand of their enemies.

28 “But as soon as they were at rest, they again did what was evil in your sight. Then you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies so that they ruled over them. And when they cried out to you again, you heard from heaven, and in your compassion you delivered them time after time.

29 “You warned them in order to turn them back to your law, but they became arrogant and disobeyed your commands. They sinned against your ordinances, of which you said, ‘The person who obeys them will live by them.’ Stubbornly they turned their backs on you, became stiff-necked and refused to listen. 30 For many years you were patient with them. By your Spirit you warned them through your prophets. Yet they paid no attention, so you gave them into the hands of the neighboring peoples. 31 But in your great mercy you did not put an end to them or abandon them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.

32 “Now therefore, our God, the great God, mighty and awesome, who keeps his covenant of love, do not let all this hardship seem trifling in your eyes—the hardship that has come on us, on our kings and leaders, on our priests and prophets, on our ancestors and all your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until today. 33 In all that has happened to us, you have remained righteous; you have acted faithfully, while we acted wickedly. 34 Our kings, our leaders, our priests and our ancestors did not follow your law; they did not pay attention to your commands or the statutes you warned them to keep. 35 Even while they were in their kingdom, enjoying your great goodness to them in the spacious and fertile land you gave them, they did not serve you or turn from their evil ways.

36 “But see, we are slaves today, slaves in the land you gave our ancestors so they could eat its fruit and the other good things it produces. 37 Because of our sins, its abundant harvest goes to the kings you have placed over us. They rule over our bodies and our cattle as they please. We are in great distress.

The Agreement of the People

38 “In view of all this, we are making a binding agreement, putting it in writing, and our leaders, our Levites and our priests are affixing their seals to it.”

[Nehemiah 9:5-38.]

 

 

One of the reasons we have so much racial division in our country is because as a people we’ve never confessed our corporate sin. All of us who are Americans today are inheritors of both the blessings left by the Americans who came before us, and the burdens of the sins they committed. The only way for the cycle of sin and hatred to be broken is through the grace of God, which—by definition—we do not deserve and have no right to receive.

And yet the Lord is a merciful God, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. God is eager to hear the prayers of a contrite heart.

I believe the heartrending prayer in Nehemiah 9 offers us a way forward. It is time for national repentance.

 

 

National repentance requires national leadership. The only person who can speak for the entire nation is the President of these United States. Not as a candidate or member of a particular party, but as the representative of the entire people.

If I were President—God help us all—if I were President, I would pick a date on the calendar and begin to call our nation to participate in a national prayer of confession and repentance. The militant atheists wouldn’t like the mention of God—what else is new?—but even some people with no faith could observe some minutes of silence.

The thought if it stops the breath. Think of the image of the President on his or her knees in a place of national significance—Gettysburg or the Capitol or Arlington—leading the nation in prayer and asking for the Lord’s mercy. It is only then that we could begin

to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.
— Abraham Lincoln, from his Second Inaugural Address
 

Until a national confession, I don’t see us moving forward freely into that future. As a nation, we have no right to be forgiven, and yet the Lord delights in showing mercy to the humble and penitent.

All we need to do is ask.

Until that day comes, may Christ have mercy on us all.

The Feast is the Point

 

Continued from our previous episode:

Nehemiah—feeling prompted from the Lord—has gathered the people for a census.

While they are all gathered, Ezra—who is a priest and a scribe, and who hasn’t yet appeared in Nehemiah’s memoir—stands up on the platform and begins to read from “the Law”, i.e., the first 5 books of the Bible, Genesis-Deuteronomy. (He’s probably reading Deuteronomy.)

While he reads, some of the other priests make their way around the crowd and explain the scripture to the people:

And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood. And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, helped the people to understand the Law, while the people remained in their places. They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading. [Nehemiah 8:5-8]

In other words, it’s not just you who needs help understanding the Bible—so did the ancient Jews! The Bible requires learning to fully appreciate, just like everything else in life.

 

 

And then an extraordinary thing happens. The people, whose ancestors had ignored the Law and so had eventually been conquered by the Babylonians, these same people start to weep with guilt at their sins and rebellion against the Lord! In Christian language, we’d say that a spiritual revival started as Ezra read from the Law.

And it all began with Nehemiah following the Lord’s prompting to assemble the people for a census.

 

 

It is good for God’s people to feel guilt at our sins, but it is not good for us to remain in a state of despair, because the Lord offers forgiveness to us. So, as the people are weeping over their sins, Nehemiah goes around and tells them that JOY is where the Lord wants to leave them.

The same is true for us. The goal is always joy. Confession of sin—thanks be to God—is a means to an end.

Or, as Nehemiah so memorably puts is:

Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” 

I hope you can feast today.

 

Today’s Nehemiah Reading: Nehemiah 8:1-12.

What Big Thing Does God Want to Start From Your Small Step?

 

Nehemiah 7:5-73 is the sort of thing people skip over when they read the Old Testament, as verses 6-73 are simply a census list of the returned exiles.

BUT

That boring detail is actually a key step to an amazing spiritual breakthrough.

 

 

Nehemiah has a sense that the Lord wants him to take a census of the people:

Then my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles and the officials and the people to be enrolled by genealogy. [Nehemiah 7:5]

Nehemiah is obedient to the Spirit’s prompting, and he begins to gather the people for a census. The rest of the chapter is a list of the exiles.

Who cares?

The reason this matters is that chapter 8 (coming tomorrow) tells us that when Nehemiah gathers the people together for the census, there is an amazing revival among the people! (Again, more tomorrow.)

Today, we read that Nehemiah feels prompted to take a census, and that small obedient step leads to a big spiritual breakthrough.

 

 

Here’s my question for you: what small obedient step do you feel as if the Lord is asking you to take TODAY? What if there is a BIG BREAKTHROUGH waiting in your future that all depends on your small step today?


 

A Test Worthy of the Man

 

The wall is completed in 52 days.

Destroyed in 586 BC by the Babylonians, 140 years later Nehemiah’s leadership results in the walls around Jerusalem being rebuilt in 52 days.

The accomplishment is so astounding that the surrounding people are filled with awe and terror at the obvious favor of the Lord on Nehemiah’s life and in support of the beleaguered Jewish community of exiles in Jerusalem:

15 So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. 16 And when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem, for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.  [Nehemiah 6:15-16]

 

 

But the accomplishment is all the more impressive with the next details that Nehemiah gives us as to the complicated web of corruption and intrigue he faced when building the wall. (See today’s passage: Nehemiah 6:15-7:4.)

Allow me to share an extended quotation from Derek Kidner:

“While chapter 5 brought to light the severe strains beneath temporary unity, these three verses reveal a still more serious threat in the disloyalties that might have sabotaged the whole enterprise, and which would persist to the end of Nehemiah’s story (see the final chapter).

This evil, like the other, found its foothold in the more prosperous levels of society, this time through the love of power and status rather than primarily through love of money. Tobiah was a more insidious influence in this respect than Sanballat, since he was probably a fellow-Jew…. His numerous binding agreements (by oath, 18) within the Jewish community were probably trading contracts, facilitated by his marriage connections…. While such links and loyalties were embarrassing enough in themselves, we now learn how busily they were exploited by intrigues, persuasive talk, leaks of information and threatening letters. All this, in addition to the outside pressures already described, brought Nehemiah under attack from almost every quarter. It had been a test worthy of the man, and it was not yet over.”

 

May each of us take inspiration today from Nehemiah, a truly great man.

How to Respond to the Haters

 

You can be doing anything of value—literally anything—and you will face opposition.

If Handel were premiering Messiah this week, someone would write on Twitter:

Sure, the music was pretty good, but I HATED the part when we had to stand for the ‘Hallelujah’ chorus.
— @muzikfan666

It doesn’t matter what it is—there will ALWAYS be someone who complains, dishonestly critiques, or otherwise tries to compromise what you’re doing.

Opposition is inevitable, which is why I like Nehemiah so much—he never lets opposition get in his head. In today’s passage (Nehemiah 6:1-14), he gives us three different ways with which to respond to opposition.

 

 

First, Stay Focused On What Matters Most

Now when Sanballat and Tobiah and Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies heard that I had built the wall and that there was no breach left in it (although up to that time I had not set up the doors in the gates), Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come and let us meet together at Hakkephirim in the plain of Ono.” But they intended to do me harm. And I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?” And they sent to me four times in this way, and I answered them in the same manner. 

Nehemiah is rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem, but the enemies of the Jews want to stop him from completing his project, so they try to distract him with a pretext for a meeting. I love Nehemiah’s response:

I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?
— Nehemiah 6:3

Stay focused on what you are building; ignore the folks who only want to tear down.

 

 

Second, Don’t Feel You Have to Respond to Lies

In the same way Sanballat for the fifth time sent his servant to me with an open letter in his hand. In it was written, “It is reported among the nations, and Geshem also says it, that you and the Jews intend to rebel; that is why you are building the wall. And according to these reports you wish to become their king. And you have also set up prophets to proclaim concerning you in Jerusalem, ‘There is a king in Judah.’ And now the king will hear of these reports. So now come and let us take counsel together.” Then I sent to him, saying, “No such things as you say have been done, for you are inventing them out of your own mind.” For they all wanted to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done.” But now, O God, strengthen my hands.

The charge that Sanballat levies against Nehemiah is that the rebuilding is just a cover for a rebellion that Nehemiah wants to lead, with himself as king. This is a serious charge, because presumably the Persian king would not take kindly to rebellion in Jerusalem. And yet Nehemiah doesn’t take the bait:

“No such things as you say have been done, for you are inventing them out of your own mind.”

And he goes on with the work.

Don’t feel the need to respond to every lie that is said about you.

 

 

Third, Be Prepared to Stand Your Ground, Come What May

10 Now when I went into the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined to his home, he said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple. Let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you. They are coming to kill you by night.” 11 But I said, “Should such a man as I run away? And what man such as I could go into the temple and live? I will not go in.” 12 And I understood and saw that God had not sent him, but he had pronounced the prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. 13 For this purpose he was hired, that I should be afraid and act in this way and sin, and so they could give me a bad name in order to taunt me. 14 Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, O my God, according to these things that they did, and also the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who wanted to make me afraid.

A false prophet—on the enemies’ payroll—tries to persuade Nehemiah to hide for his life in the Temple. Nehemiah rejects this suggestion:

“Should such a man as I run away? And what man such as I could go into the temple and live? I will not go in.”

Nehemiah decides that he has a job to do, and if it costs him his life, so be it. In other words, he doesn’t give into fear.

Fear is a lie, and it never comes from God, so don’t give it undue power in your life today.

 

 

As you are engaged in building something beautiful, what opposition are you facing today?

Walls Won't Work When the Enemy is Within

 

Today’s Nehemiah Reading (Day #5): Nehemiah chapter 5.

 

 

Walls won’t work when the enemy is within.

The walls of Jerusalem are meant to protect its citizens, but as Nehemiah is engaged in the task of rebuilding those walls, the poor people of the city come to him and tell him that they are being oppressed by their fellow Jews. In other words, the enemy is not only without, but within the city. Nehemiah promptly and effectively confronts the elites that are behaving in that way and even gets them to willingly agree to change their economic practices. However, this sour note in the rebuilding process is a foreshadowing of what will happen at the end of the book.

 

Today’s Leadership Lesson from Nehemiah:

The narrative then jumps ahead and we learn that Nehemiah is actually the governor and that his first term lasted 12 years! And then, he gives us this insight: though he was entitled—as governor—to tax the people to pay for food for his retinue and for himself, he never took a dime from the people; rather, he paid for everything out of his own pocket.

Great leaders serve their people.

Whom can you serve today?

We Prayed...and Set a Guard

 

Today’s Nehemiah Reading (Day #4): Nehemiah 4:1-23

 

 

Nehemiah is a model for faithful action. Unsurprisingly, his rebuilding project faces opposition, and the enemies of Israel conspire to come with violence and tear down the half-rebuilt wall around Jerusalem. So, this is what he does:

“We prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against [our enemies] day and night.” [Nehemiah 4:9]

We prayed…and set a guard.

Prayer informs and undergirds action. We still need to act, but prayer makes our actions meaningful.

Pick Up the Stone Right in Front of You [Day #3]

 

Don’t skim or scan today’s Nehemiah passage. Yes, it first seems like a tedious list of who did what when, but I think it’s worth reading for 2 reasons:

  1. All the specific historical details are a clue: this really happened!

  2. All the names and groups of people listed are an insight into Nehemiah’s leadership genius: he got everyone to do a part.

 

 

The rebuilding of the wall around Jerusalem is a difficult project to undertake, and it will only be successfully completed if Nehemiah gets everyone to do his or her part. Which, of course, is what he does.

 

 

Friends, there is a lot of building to do, and it can be overwhelming—where do we begin?

Take the next faithful step right in front of you; pick up the stones right there, and get to work on your section of the wall.

Let us rise up and build!

How to Be Strong No Matter What Happens [Day 2]

 

It’s the kind of detail you miss if you don’t have access to a good Bible commentary (or a learned and refined blog like this one):

Four months pass between Nehemiah chapters 1 and 2.

Nehemiah 1:1

Now it happened in the month of Chislev….

Nehemiah 2:1

In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes….

“Chislev” is the Jewish lunar month of November/December, and “Nisan” is the Jewish lunar month of March/April. Our story begins in chapter 1 in November/December 446 BC, and then resumes four months later in chapter 2 in March/April 445 BC.

In other words, Nehemiah has been praying about his meeting with the Persian Emperor for four months!

 

 

Today’s Nehemiah Reading (Day #2 of 15): Nehemiah 2:1-20

 

 

How to Be Strong No Matter What Happens

I love the story of Nehemiah’s life-and-death meeting with Emperor Artaxerxes that’s told in our reading today. As the cup bearer to the king, Nehemiah is a close personal aide and advisor to the king, and yet he is still taking his life in his hands with his audacious request to be sent back to Jerusalem—at royal expense(!)—to rebuild it. I love his gulped prayer (v. 4) and how he then boldly pushes ahead. And, the king grants his request!

Nehemiah’s four months of prayer have prepared him for this moment in 2 ways:

  1. He has become the kind of person who is able to simply do the right thing when the moment comes. Disciplined prayer shapes us like an athlete’s training—when it’s game time, you just do the right thing without thinking about it. Disciplined prayer is God’s way of making us wise.

  2. He knows that he has been praying and that his life is in God’s hands; whatever happens, God is with him. So, when the moment of decision comes, he gulps out his prayer and just pushes ahead.

What if you started preparing today for your next challenge in the same way? Circle something in prayer, and when the moment comes, walking boldly ahead, knowing that you are in the hands of the Lord.

That’s the secret of strength.

 

 

P.S. Today’s Leadership Lesson from Nehemiah

When applicable, I’ll add a brief leadership lesson to each day’s reading. Here’s today’s:

When Nehemiah arrives in Jerusalem, he doesn’t tell anyone what he’s there to do. Rather, he goes by night and silently inspects the walls, learning about the state of the ruined city before he shows his hand.

Listen and learn first, and then act.

446 BC

 

For the next 3 weeks (weekdays only), I’m going to be reading through the Old Testament book of Nehemiah, which is all about rebuilding after disaster.

Talk about timely.

You in?

(Trust me—it’s one of the most inspiring stories in the Bible, and most of it is told in first-person as a direct memoir from Nehemiah himself.)

 

 

Scripture for Day 1 (9/14/2020):

Nehemiah 1:1-11

 

 

The story begins in November 446 BC, and to understand what’s happening, a few historical facts are in order:

  • In 586 BC, the Babylonian empire destroyed Jerusalem and carried off the Israelites into exile in Babylon;

  • In 539 BC, the Persian empire conquered the Babylonian empire;

  • In 538 BC, the Persian emperor Cyrus the Great permitted the Jews to return home to begin to rebuild, and a small group of them did so;

  • Over the next several generations, the rebuilding moved forward slowly, in fits and starts (this story is told in the Book of Ezra).

Much of the book of Nehemiah is a memoir written by Nehemiah himself, and as the story begins in November-December 446 BC, he is working for the Persian emperor in the Persian citadel of Susa.

Prayer becomes an essential part of Nehemiah’s story, and before he makes his move (we’ll read about it tomorrow), he spends 4 months in prayer.

What do you need to circle with that kind of intense prayer today?

 

P.S.

My sermon yesterday was about today’s Nehemiah passage, and it centered on this question:

What if God needs to change you before he changes your circumstances?